Shipping case for moving-picture films



March Z1, 1939. J. M. GOLDBERG SHIPPING CASE FOR MOVING PICTURE FILMS Filed Aug. 30, 1957 IN VENTOR,

ATTORNEY.

gil-Eli Tim Patented Mar. 21, 1939 PATENT OFFIQE SHIPPING CASE FOR MOVING-PICT`URE FILMS Jacob M. Goldberg, Denver, Colo.

Application August 30,

2 Claims.

This invention relates to improvements in cases for shipping moving picture reels.

In the operation of the many moving picture places it becomes necessary to ship films from a 5 central distributing station to the surrounding theaters and to return them after they have been exhibited.

y The films are wound on metal reels of various constructions, and the reels are. enclosed in metal ltLshipping cases of various makes and constructions. As a rule more than one reel is shipped at a time and all are shipped in a single case, at least up to the number of six.

The width of the reels, or the distance between 15,the sides is usually somewhat greater than the Width of the film and the latter can therefore move slightly from side to side during the winding, and as a result the sides of the reeled film are not fiat but somewhat wavy, as will hereinafter be 2U more clearly shown and explained. Sometimes only one or two turns are offset and therefore when pressure is applied to the reel, tending to press the sides against the wound film the pressure is resisted by a few thicknesses of film only .5 and the film is then broken or crushed along the edge which necessitates cutting out sections of the film.

In order to minimize the damage to film during shipping, the cases are sometimes divided into 3o separate compartments for each reel, which makes the shipping cases unnecessarily heavy and expensive.

It is the object of this invention to produce a shipping case for reels of film which shall be so 3;, g constructed that when the reels are placed therein spacers will enter between the peripheries of the sides of the reels and hold them in a predetermined spaced relation, thereby preventing the sides from being moved'towards each other and 4U crushing the film.

Having thus brieflydescribed the invention, the same will now be described in detail, and for this purpose reference will be had to the accompanying drawing in which the invention has been illus- 45 trated and in which:

Figure l is a vertical longitudinal section taken on line I--I Fig. 2;

Figure 2 is a vertical transverse section taken on line 2--2 Fig. 1;

Figure 3 is a top plan View looking down through plane 3 3; Fig. 1, and

Figures 4, 5 and 6 show certain modifications of the construction.

The metal case which has been illustrated is of 55 usual construction and will therefore be described 1937, Serial No. 161,549

(Cl. 20G-52) with no greater detail than necessary for the purpose of explaining the invention.

The case comprises a bottom portion B and a cover C, and when the cover is in closed position the case is octagonal in shape as shown in Fig. 1. The top of the bottom portion has been designated by numeral 5 and the lower edge of the cover by numeral 6. It will be observed that both edges 5 and 6 are above the center point 'I of the case. The cover is connected with the bottom portion of the case by means of a specially constructed hinge which comprises the rectangular loop 8, and is latched by means of a specially constructed hasp 9 that is hingedly connected with the cover by the rectangular loop IG. A staple I I is attached to the case and cooperates with the hasp. A handle 2 is attached to the top of the cover. The case is lined throughout with heavy cardboard or ber boards I3 and I4, the lining of the side walls being indicated by numeral I4 and that of the octagonal walls by numeral I3. The linings I 4 are secured in place by any suitable means and the linings I3 are positioned between the linings I4 and hold them in spaced relation.

It is old to line shipping cases in the manner just described, and the structure described above contains no novel features.

The feature of novelty for which patent protection is sought will now be described.

In Fig. 2, the center reel has been shown as carrying a quantity of lm which has been designated by numeral I5. It will be observed that the film layers are offset transversely in such a way that the sides of the roll of lm are wavy instead of flat. project beyond the others in the manner indicated at points marked I6 in Fig. 2.

It is evident that if the sides I'I of a reel are forced inwardly the pressure will not be resisted by all of the film layers, but only by those layers that project beyond the others, as indicated at I6. The few lm layers that are so positioned that they must resist the crushing force are too weak, with the result that the projecting edges of these film layers become crushed to such an extent that the injured portions must be removed.

Experience has shown that where a single reel of film is shipped in a strong case, the lm is never damaged, but where several reels are packed into a single shipping case the lms are frequently damaged. The reason for this is that when a case containing several reels of lm is roughly handled as by being thrown on its side onto a floor or other supporting surface, the lowermost reels must withstand the impact caused by the Sometimes one or two film layers will b reels superimposed thereon, and since the reels are not rigid, powerful forces are produced that tend to compress the sides of the lower reels with the result that the projecting edges of the lms are crushed.

To obviate the danger of injury to the lms for the reason above explained, it is customary 'to provide shipping cases with separate compartments, each containing one reel. Shipping cases provided with compartments are more expensive to make and are heavier than cases that have no compartments and are objectionable to this extent.

It is evident that if the reels were provided with rigid spacers between the sides, arranged around the peripheries of the reels, the sides would not move towards each other and the projecting llms would therefore not be required to resist any forces except those due to their own weight and the danger of injury would therefore be reduced to that which would be present when a single reel is shipped.

Referring now to the drawing, it will be seen that the lining I3 has been provided with spaced notches i8 at angularly spaced positions. The notches are separated by the parts I9 and the distance between the notches is equal to the normal distance between the inner surfaces of the reel sides il. The width of the notches is suicient to receive the edges of two reel sides, all as shown in Fig. 2. Y

It is evident that the spacers i9, four of which have been shown for each reel, resist any inward movement of the sides of the reels with the result that each reel is supported independently and the lm will not be subjected to the severe crushing forces referred to above.

The spacers I9 are formed by bowing the material inwardly and can be provided at practically no additional cost and do not add to the weight as the material removed from the openings I8 weighs more than the additional material reqLiired on account of the curvature of the spacers.

In the form illustrated, the spacers I9 are arranged 90 degrees apart, but it is'evident that twice as many may be used if desired.

Since the lining I3 is made of quite heavy and strong material, the spacers I9 do not, as a rule, require to be reenforced, but if experience shows that reenforcement is necessary, a bowed plate of metal like that designated by numeral 28 in Fig. 4 may be provided.

The embodiment of the invention which has been illustrated in Figs. 1 to 4 is considered to be the preferred form, but it is vevident that the same results can be obtained by speciiically different means and as one example of another form of the invention, a modification has been shown in Figs. 5 and 6. In this embodiment the lining has not been modiiied but the spacer lugs l9a have been formed by bending a strip 2l of metal and the strip is attached to the lining by means of rivets 22.

It is evident that other modifications than those shown and described can be employed. The gist of the invention resides in'inserting between the sides of the reels spacers which may take the form shown in Figs. l to 4 or lugs like those shown in Figs. 5 and 6.

Attention is called to the fact that this invention embodies a closed two-part case, one part comprising an open sided body portion and the other part an open sided cover for closing the saine, and a plurality of pairs of spacer lugs, there being at least one pair on one part and a plurality of pairs on the other.

Having described the invention what I claim as new is:

1. A closed case for the handling and transportation of a plurality of moving picture reels, comprising two cooperating parts, one being an open sided body portion adapted to have the reels inserted therein `and the other an open rsided cover portion adapted to engage the reels spacers on one of the parts and a plurality of pairs on the other part.

2. A closed two-part shipping case for simultaneously transporting a plurality of moving picture Ilm reels having spaced circular sides,V comprising an open sided body portion adapted to have the reels inserted therein, and an open sided cover portionr adapted to engage the reels and close the body portion, means for holding the sides of each reel a predetermined distance apart and for holding adjacent sides of adjacent reels in close parallel proximity, comprising a plurality of pairs of spacers attached to and propair of spacers being spaced apart a sufficientv distance to receive the peripheral edges of adjacent sides of adjacent reels.

JACOB VM. GOLDBERG. 

